The jury found that the dealership negligently damaged plaintiff Benjamin Ridley by returning an ill-repaired Land Rover LR3. However, it didn’t feel City Chevrolet intentionally concealed the damage or mislead Ridley by not telling him the LR3 likely would be a total loss.

According to Kuehnert’s ruling, the jury answered “yes,” to whether City Chevrolet did “Represent to the plaintiff that the automobile was repaired, when defendant knew or should have known that the automobile was not completely or properly repaired.”

Kuehnert agreed the jury’s decision, and ordered treble damages of the remitted $110,270.66 in costs:

He then added $100,725 for Ridley’s attorney’s fees ($300/hour for 198.5 hours, plus expenses) and $6,726.88 in costs.

The repair

Ridley received his LR3 twice from City Chevrolet. The first time they attempted the repair, the SUV was returned with the same tire damage visible after the accident, despite a charge for new tires, according to Michael Bradshaw, operations manager for K&M Collision.

The SUV went back to City Chevrolet, who kept it for a while — the LR3 was at the dealership for three or four months — before returning it again, according to Bradshaw.

The LR3 pulled “really hard,” and Ridley took it to K&M for a post-repair inspection, Bradshaw said. He said K&M found fractured frame welds, among other issues, and concluded that the SUV should have been a total loss, for it needed a new frame.

City Chevrolet wouldn’t pay K&M’s bill, and Ridley ultimately took them to court, Bradshaw said.

Bradshaw, who attended the trial as an expert witness and audience member, recalled a City Chevrolet technician who testified he never accessed OEM repair procedures for the job, nor would he know where to find them.

City Chevrolet also spent “a good bit of the trial” depicting K&M as “troublemakers,” rather than putting up their own defense, Bradshaw said.

But the penalty even for a mistake caught in time can be serious. In this case, City Chevrolet took a reputational hit and a $438,000 financial one.

The case also points out a few other “things not to do” from a repair and customer service standpoint:

Don’t start working on a vehicle without a customer’s authorization.

Pay close attention to a consumer’s choice of where they want a vehicle repaired, and respect it. The case against Hendrick Luxury was dismissed and the jury found no conspiracy, but that doesn’t mean the luxury body shop enjoyed the process of going to court. (Plus, as court fiction constantly reminds us — you never know how a jury’s going to act no matter how solid your case is. Why risk it?)

Follow OEM repair guidelines. If you don’t know where to access them — learn!

And don’t let it happen again. Lose a few court cases for the same reasons, and the penalties and scrutiny could be more severe.

Images:

A Catawba County judge recently ruled that a Charlotte, N.C., Chevrolet dealership must pay more than $438,000 in triple damages, attorneys fees and costs following an inadequate Land Rover LR3 repair. The SUV is shown here in this screenshot from K&M Collision video. (Screenshot from K&M Collision channel on YouTube, www.youtube.com)

Frame damage on a customer’s Land Rover LR3 is shown on this K&M Collision video screenshot. (Screenshot of K&M Collision YouTube channel on www.youtube.com)